Michael Rothenberg is an American poet, songwriter, editor, and active environmentalist in the San Francisco Bay Area. Born in Miami Beach, Florida, Rothenberg received his Bachelor of Arts in English at UNC-Chapel Hill. Afterward, he moved to California in 1976, where he began "Shelldance Nursery", an orchid and bromeliad nursery.
In 1993 he received his MA in Poetics at New College of California. In 1989, Rothenberg and artist Nancy Davis began
Big Bridge Press,a fine print literary press, publishing works by Jim Harrison, Joanne Kyger, Allen Ginsberg, Philip Whalen and others. Rothenberg is editor of
Big Bridge, a webzine of poetry. Rothenberg is also co-editor and co-founder of
Jack Magazine, He is the editor of:
- Overtime, Selected Poems by Philip Whalen
- As Ever, Selected Poems by Joanne Kyger
- David’s Copy, Selected Poems by David Meltzer
- Way More West, Selected Poems by Ed Dorn (Penguin, 2007)
- Collected Poems of Philip Whalen (Wesleyan University Press, 2007).
Rothenberg's poems have appeared in
88: A Journal of Contemporary American Poetry,
First Intensity,
Cortland Review,
Golden Handcuffs Review,
Exquisite Corpse,
Zyzzyva,
Mudlark ,
Jacket,
Rolling Stock,
Sycamore Review, and other publications. His books include
Unhurried Vision,
Paris Journals,
What The Fish Saw,
Nightmare Of The Violins,
Man/Woman w/Joanne Kyger, and
Favorite Songs. In 1990 Rothenberg began writing songs. His songs have appeared in films by Hollywood Pictures,
Shadowhunter and
Black Day, Blue Night.